In Sickness and In Health
by The Book Queen
Summary: It's 2:00 am and Maren is sitting in the waiting room of Mercy Hospital & Medical Center, bored out of her mind and anxious to see her friend. But things start to get a little interesting when there is a 911 call for an ambulance, only, the problem is no one will tell her what's going on. When a boy comes in, they talk, and she ends up leaving with reassurance and a new friend.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello people, I have started a new story. I started writing this using a post from tumblr as ****inspiration (it was an AU's masterpost, it had a ton of ideas). This story is centered mostly around Maren (Six) and Stanley (Nine), Joseph (Eight) and Marina, and Sandor and Devektra. But, it will also include John and Sarah, Adam and Eve (One), Maggie (Two) and Hannu (Three). The AU from the list that I'm using was: ****meeting while waiting for hours on end in the emergency room au. I guess I should give a warning-**

**WARNING: Character death.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters from the Lorien Legacies.**

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**Maren-**

I sit on one of the hard plastic chairs with my head in my hands, trying not to doze off. I've been here for hours, waiting to see if my best friend, Marina, is okay. She got in a terrible car crash earlier and the doctors will only let family members in to see her, which is really starting to piss me off. After a quick glance at the clock, which reads 2:00 am, I groan. I don't leave, though, because I promised her little sister, Ella, who was on a three-day field trip to some place called Outdoor Ed, that I wouldn't leave until I knew Marina was going to be okay.

The workers have already tried to get me to leave twice, but when they tried to pick me up, I started kicking and screaming and they decided to let me stay so I didn't wake the patients. Overall, other than having security try to carry me out of the waiting room, the night has been uneventful. Well, it was, until the front desk got an emergency call and they had to send an ambulance. Then, a bunch of the doctors started preparing for the new patient, who, I can guess by the panicking of some of the doctors and nurses, is probably dying or very close to it.

"What's going on?" I ask, catching one of the nurses, Devektra, as she hurries past me.

"Nothing involving you, that's for sure," she says, yanking her arm out of my hands. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." She turns around and walks away quickly. I decide to sit back down in my chair after asking several other people about what's going on. None of them would tell me anything.

About ten minutes later, a tall, dark-haired boy walks in, practically in his pajamas. He's wearing only a pair of boxers and a hoodie, which he must have grabbed as he was leaving. He gives me a look before walking over to the other side of the room and sitting down in one of the uncomfortable chairs, putting his head in his hands, running his fingers through his long hair.

It takes me a bit to work up the courage to walk over and take a seat in the chair next to him. I stare at him and he eventually lifts his head from his hands to glare at me, his icy blue eyes narrowed. Honestly, I'm surprised I don't freeze right on the spot; his glare is intense.

"What do you want?" he snaps, clearly irritated.

"Oh, I was just wondering what's going on, you seem like you'd know about it," I answer, twirling some of my blonde hair around my finger. My hair isn't naturally blonde; I just dyed it that way after I lost a bet with my friend, Eve. It's not as bad as it could have been, at least I got to pick the color, and there's no way I choose something like hot pink.

"I don't want to talk about it," he mutters, putting his head back in his hands. I pout, frustrated that no one will tell me what's going on.

"Please?" I beg. He doesn't say anything, just feverishly shakes his head. "Do you want to talk about something else, then? Maybe get your mind off it?" It takes him a while, but he finally gives in, turning to me.

"Sure," he grunts. I swallow nervously, trying to figure out what to say.

"Um, how about you tell me your name?"

"Stanley, Stanley Worthington. And you are?"

"Maren Jones." I hold out my hand and he shakes it, gripping my hand tightly.

"So, Maren, what do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know, let's just talk about ourselves."

…

An hour passes quickly with just us talking to each other, alone, in the waiting room. I get to know him pretty quick. From what he's told me, I now know that he actually goes to my school (only he's a sophomore and I'm a junior), his uncle's name is Sandor, they're pretty rich because Sandor owns a successful company, he has six cousins, his parents died when he was little, he's an only child, and he loves sports and running.

I tell him about my mom and about my dad who left us, my love of sports in general, my best friends (Marina, Maggie, Eve and Ella, even though she's younger), and how I'm an only child too. After we've warmed up to each other a lot, I decide to ask him about why he's here again.

"So," I start. "Why are you here?" Stanley starts to become uneasy again, looking down at his hands as he twiddles his thumbs.

"Uhhh…"

"Please, I'll tell you why I'm here." I stare at him hopefully. Eventually, he starts to give in.

"Fine. It's Sandor, he's sick. He's had a really bad cough for a while and none of the medicines seemed to work. It just kept getting worse and worse until now. He passed out earlier and he wasn't breathing. That's when I called 911," Stanley pauses, staring down with his hands clenched in his fists. "After riding in the ambulance, I came here. You know what happens after that." He gives me a look. "Your turn."

"Marina got in a car crash and the doctors wouldn't let me see her. I promised Ella I wouldn't leave until I checked up on her, but obviously I haven't seen her yet," I explain quickly. One of the doctors walks in and I start to get hopeful. Maybe they'll finally let me see Marina.

"Stanley Worthington?" he calls, looking around, his gaze settling on my new friend. "I need to have a word with you." Stanley gets up, obviously nervous, and the two of them leave the room. I sit, in utter boredom again, until a nurse enters. Her name tag says that her name is Melody.

"Hey, um, Maren," the somewhere-around-twenty-year-old starts. "You have to leave now, you have school in the morning."

"I can't, I promised Marina's little sister that I'd see if she's okay first," I say.

"Oh, well, you can come back and see her quickly."

"Really?" I can't believe my luck. I thought I would have to stay the night.

"Yeah, though, don't touch anything. I don't want to lose my internship because I let you come back with me and break something."

"Oh, don't worry, I just want to see my friend." I get up and follow the intern to Marina's room. Melody opens the door quietly and I peer in. Marina lies on the bed, asleep, covered in bruises and scrapes with her leg elevated and in a cast. Honestly, she looks bad, but not as bad as she could be right now. She'll recover.

"Will you go now?" Melody asks.

"Yeah, I'll go now," I reply. The nurse leads me back to the entrance to the hospital and I pick up my things, getting into my car and driving home. I don't go to sleep until I send Ella a text saying Marina will be okay.

…

The next morning, I stop at Starbucks on the way to school, ordering an espresso. I only slept for three hours last night. When I arrive, I look around for Stanley. It's not that hard to find him, since he's so tall. When I see him, I run over to him, ready to ask some of the many questions running through my mind. I stop though, when I realize he's wearing the same sweatshirt from yesterday, the hood pulled up over his head, and a pair of dark jeans. He's staring down at the ground, his shoulders hunched over. Compared to last night, he looks like he had the life drained right out of him.

"What's wrong?" I ask, breathless from sprinting and elbowing my way through the crowd of high school students. I zip my jacket up. This morning is turning out to be colder than I thought it was going to be.

"It's just…" he trails off, not meeting my eyes. I frown and pull on his arm.

"Please tell me," I plead. He sighs.

"It's Sandor, the doctors figured out what's wrong with him."

"That's great!" I exclaim, but he doesn't seem happy.

"No, it's not great."

"Why?" when Stanley doesn't answer, I start to get frustrated. "Why?"

"H-he, he has cancer!" Stanley answers, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"What?"

"Lung Cancer, stage four. It already spread to his brain. Statistics say he probably won't live much more than four months, if he even makes it that far." Stanley turns away from me, trying to hide the glistening of tears in his eyes. It doesn't work, and I find myself doing something very out of character for me. I give him a hug, right in front of everyone.

"It's okay," I whisper. Stanley just stands there.

"No, it's not," he murmurs. "He's gonna die!" I can almost feel my heart breaking for him. He sounds so sad.

"Shhh, come with me," I say, grabbing his hand and ignoring the tingly-ness that appears in my fingertips and the way my heart skips a beat. He willingly follows as I lead him back behind the gym and down a secret passageway only I know about. I tried to show Marina and Maggie, but they refused to come. I would show Eve, but she wouldn't be able to use it. If she skips any more of her classes, she'll get a F and then her mom will ground her for the rest of the school year and take away her phone. Once we're down there, Stanley collapses against the wall and slides down it, sitting on the floor with his head in his hands, starting to cry.

"H-he can't die!" Stanley wails. "First aunt Kara, then uncle Chris and now Sandor! So many people in my life die!" I don't know what to do. I've never really had to comfort someone who's crying before. Awkwardly, I wrap my arms around him and he leans into me. I can feel the wetness of his tears on my neck and my heart breaks for him once again. I couldn't imagine what I would do if my mom were in Sandor's place.

"It will be okay," I say, trying to reassure him.

"No it won't!" he cries.

…

It takes him a while, but Stanley finally calms down, thanking me for not making fun of him and apologizing for breaking down and crying. It seems like it helped him feel better, like it got a big weight off his chest. I'm just glad I could help. We talk some more after that and leave when we hear the bell telling us it's time for lunch. Stanley and I say goodbye to each other after exchanging numbers and head over to our separate friend groups.

"Maren!" Maggie exclaims as I sit down with the sandwich I bought from the lunchroom in my hands. "Where were you?"

"Talking to someone," I answer, taking a bite of my sandwich.

"Who?" Eve asks, leaning forwards. "Is it a guy?"

"Would you leave me alone if I said yes?"

"So it _is_ a guy!" Eve exclaims. I roll my eyes.

"So?" They're starting to annoy me.

"Who is it?" Maggie leans forward. "Is he friends with that Hannu guy?"

"Why do you want to know?" I ask.

"I, uh…"

"She's in love with him," Eve interrupts, grinning.

"Like you are with Adam?" I tease, starting to smile myself.

"Yep!" Eve laughs, sipping her soda. "But anyway, who is it?"

"Stanley Worthington," I reply. Maggie gasps.

"I think he's friends with Hannu!"

"Oh my god, Maggie, quit stalking the poor boy," Eve says dramatically. Maggie mock-pouts.

"Like you don't stalk Adam," she counters jokingly.

"Alright! Fine! You caught me!" she responds. "But we have bigger issues here: I think Maren has a crush."

"What! I don't!" I exclaim, throwing a one of my Cheetos at her.

"You totally do! If you were willing to spend all morning talking to him, you obviously like him." I blush trying to convince them, and myself that I don't have a crush on Stanley. But they continue to tease me like little girls and I keep denying it, even though I know that I probably do have a crush on Stanley. Damn, that sounds childish.

"Whatever," I mutter as the bell rings. "Let's just go to class."

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**Sorry for the short first chapter, they'll get longer, I promise. Next chapter will probably feature Stanley and Sandor and their side of things. I'm excited for this story! **


	2. Chapter 2

**See? I promised the chapters would be longer and I kept that promise. This was a pretty quick update, I'm surprised I was able to finish this chapter so soon, but since I finished it, might as well post it. I know for a fact that I won't be able to update like this much more because I'm going on a vacation (with no laptop) and then school starts, so I'll be having less frequent updates for my stories because I will have less time to write. But, I will update when I can, so it'll be pretty irregular too. Don't be surprised if during the school year, I update, say, two days in a row then seemingly drop off the face of the earth for a month with no warning. I apologize in advance for this story and my other one.**

**Thank you to everyone who viewed, reviewed, followed and favorited this story. It means a lot.**

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I don't own anyone from the Lorien Legacies.**

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**Marina-**

It's been about four days since I got in that car accident, and I've had at least one of my friends visit me each day. When Ella got back, she came immediately and saw me. I slept for at least two days after the accident, and I woke up on the third day to Maren, Maggie, Eve and one of the nurses crowded around my bed. When I woke up, they all cheered, causing one of the nearby patients to yell at them.

Today, I'm doing calculus homework. The school never said I have to, but I don't want to fall behind. The problem is, though, is that I wasn't in school to learn the lesson, so I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm groaning in frustration and rubbing my temples with my fingers when there's a knock at the door and a male voice calls from the other side.

"Hello? Are you decent?" he asks, the door creaking open.

"Yes," I answer, wondering how I could not be. I haven't moved all day except with help from one of the nurses when I had to go to the bathroom. The door opens and a head with a curly mop of dark hair pokes out from behind it. He grins and then enters, emerald eyes shining.

"Hey, I'm your cleaning lady, I've been assigned to clean your room." The boy reaches out into the hallway and brings out a vacuum, plugging it into the wall. I try to refocus on my homework but I can't, instead concentrating on the way his shirt lifts up just a tiny bit when he stretches, allowing me to see his perfect abs. He looks back up at me and I realize I've been staring.

"Uh, uhm, s-sorry," I stutter, blushing. "Uh, what's your name?"

"Joseph," he replies, holding his hand out for me to shake, but he stands too far away and I can't reach, causing him to laugh sheepishly, flashing a goofy smile, and come over to my bed. He offers his hand again and I shake it. "And who are you?"

"I'm Marina," I say, still recovering from my embarrassment from before. His eyes light up playfully.

"Marina, I like it. It's such a beautiful name," he responds, causing my cheeks to turn red once again.

"It's just a name," I mumble, tapping my pencil against my workbook and trying to concentrate on it. Joseph leans over and glances at the paper, studying the problems.

"It's not just a name, it's a beautiful name," he argues. "Is that math?"

"Yeah, I have to do it for school, I don't want to fall behind."

"See that, is why I don't go to public school. You know there's something wrong with the education system when students feel like they have to do schoolwork while they're in the hospital," he says, resuming his vacuuming. I bush again, starting to get frustrated with myself. _Why won't I stop blushing around him?_

"Are you homeschooled?" I ask. Joseph flashes me a pearly grin and continues to clean the floor.

"Yup! My parents are thinking about sending me to public school, though. When we moved here, they both had to get new jobs and they don't have the time to teach me."

"Maybe you could go to my school, I mean, if you live in the area. It would be fun!" I mentally slap myself. Not many people think school is fun.

"Yeah, I could go to school with you, I'd already have a friend," he smiles and turns off the vacuum. His comment causes me to blush again. _What's wrong with me!_ I shift uncomfortably, partly from being flustered and partly because the medicine is wearing off and my leg is starting ache again. Joseph turns to leave.

"Wait, uh, can you get me more pain medicine?"

"Sure, I'll get one of the nurses." Joseph walks out of the room and I lean up against the bed, sad and relieved at the same time.

**Stanley-**

When the final bell rings, I leap out of my seat and rush out of the classroom, stopping at my locker to drop some stuff off, and rush out of the school.

"Yo Stanley! Wait up!" I turn around and see a blond head bob in the crowd of students, heading my way. It's John.

"Yeah, don't leave without us!" Hannu yells, following him. He, John, Sam and Cody are all shoving their way past people, trying to catch up to me.

"I don't have time to wait for you, I've gotta see Sandor!" I start to hurry away. I'm not really pressed for time, so I don't have to rush, but I need to see him. I've been busy a lot this past week, and this is my one free day. God bless Fridays.

I hop into my car and my friends follow, piling into their separate cars. I start the engine and pull out of the parking lot, driving as fast as the speed limit lets me with my friends right behind me. When I get to the hospital, I hop out of the car, my four friends following me as I walk up to the front desk. The girl there looks up at me.

"I'm here to see Sandor Worthington," I say, hitting Cody in the arm when he starts to walk over to the vending machine in the corner. Cody glares at me and I ignore him, focusing on the woman in front of me.

"And your name is?"

"Stanley Worthington."

"Alright, he's in the B wing, second floor, room 331."

"Thanks." I start walking to the elevator, my friends following. I pass a curly-haired boy on the way to Sandor's room, the boy smiling at me as I walked by. When I come up to room 331, I knock gently on the door. "Sandor?"

"I'm here." His reply is weak and muffled by the wall. I open the door, stepping in, trying not to pay attention to the strange machines around his bed.

"Hey Sandor, how are you feeling?" I ask, walking over to him. He shifts in the bed, looking up at me.

"Like shit, but thanks for asking," he answers, wincing and adjusting the cannula in his nose. He pushes himself warily into a sitting position, careful not to snag the tube running from under his hospital gown, draining the liquid from his lungs. "But better than I did before. For every day I have this," he taps the cannula. "and this," he pokes the tube at his side. "It gets a little easier to breathe."

"How's your head?" I ask, feeling awkward. I'm still not used to the idea of Sandor having cancer, and I'm even less used to the fact that he is going to die, soon. Sandor shrugs.

"It hurts, but not too bad, they've started this thing called Stereotactic Radiotherapy, and it's helping a lot. Plus, I'm practically on as much pain meds as I can safely be." He smiles weakly and tries to change the subject. "But enough about me and my depressing life, what's been going on with you?" I tell him about school, and my friends also give him a little report on their lives. Sandor listens intently. When John is done explaining, he says he has to go and leaves, Cody and Sam following shortly after. After Hannu leaves, I sit down in one of the chairs and set my backpack down on the ground, opening it and taking out my homework. While I work on the assignment from my lit class, Sandor reads a book, every once in a while glancing at me as if he's checking up on me to make sure I'm okay when really I'm supposed to do that to him. About an hour of homework later, a nurse opens the door and walks in, smiling at me.

"Ooh, you have company," she exclaims, walking over to me. "What's your name?"

"That's Stanley," Sandor says before I can answer. "He's my nephew."

"Well hi there Stanley, I'm Devektra, your uncle's nurse." She smiles, making her way over to the machines. She examines the tube at Sandor's side and the flowmeter in the wall. After a while, I decide to get up and leave, and after saying goodbye to Sandor, I go to my car and drive back to my cousin's house since there's no one at home to stay with me.

**Sandor-**

Soon after Stanley leaves, Devektra brings me some dinner from the cafeteria. Reluctantly, I eat it and pick up my book again, unbeknownst to the consequences of eating right after chemotherapy.

So, not surprisingly, due to my shitty luck, about fifteen minutes later, I'm sitting on my hospital bed, innocently reading when I start to get a little nauseous. I wish I knew how to disconnect myself from all the complicated machines so I could go to the bathroom. But, instead, because getting up without help could mean certain death for me, whether it's suffocating or improperly removing the tube in my side, I resort to just sitting there, growing more uncomfortable by the second and trying not to throw up.

Devektra returns a couple of minutes later to take me to get a MRI. She hums softly as she starts to remove the tube from my side and get me an oxygen tank.

I wait until she finishes her song to weakly ask her, "Could you maybe… take me to the bathroom… on the way there?" That's when she notices that I've practically turned green, beads of sweat on my forehead. Not only am I nauseous; I'm in pain too. I've got a really bad headache.

"Sandor, are you okay?" She walks over to me and puts a tentative hand on my shoulder.

"I think I'm g-gonna be…" I don't get to finish my sentence, lurching forward as I throw up what I just ate for dinner. "Sick," I finish, feeling disgusting and embarrassed, which means my face is probably the same color as a tomato. And, yet, probably the worst thing of it all is: I still feel nauseous. Clutching my stomach, I lie back in my bed, my eyes closed. I don't want to see her reaction to what just happened. But Devektra surprises me.

Instead of keeping her distance saying, "ewwww, gross," Devektra walks away and comes back with a towel. When she starts to wipe off my hospital gown, I open my eyes. Smiling warmly, she pushes my blankets back and helps me into a sitting position, handing me a bucket. She seems to read my mind, knowing that I'm embarrassed after throwing up in front of her.

She seems almost offended and surprised, quickly reassuring me.

"Now come on, did you really think I would be scared away by some vomit? Oh no, if I were that type of girl, I wouldn't have a job here. I've seen plenty worse than a poor guy that's sick to his stomach after his first day of chemo," she leans forward and whispers in my ear, "I once had to give this smelly, disgusting, perverted asshole a sponge bath, so trust me when I say this: I've seen worse, you don't have to be embarrassed for puking." I don't say anything. I'm not speechless, though, there's a million things I want to say right now, I'm just afraid that if I open my mouth, I'll throw up again. Devektra smiles again, starting to help me off the bed.

Despite feeling like I'm going to hurl, I finally protest weakly and ask, "Wha-wait, stop. Why are you having me stand up?" It's been a while since I've stood up by myself, and as ridiculous as it sounds, I'm kind of scared to try again. The last time I did so, I passed out and had to be brought to the hospital by an ambulance. Needless to say, it didn't end well. And now Devektra wants me to try again.

"Why not? I was thinking; if we got you back up on your feet you'd be able to roam the hospital. And what better way to do that then to have you walk to the chemotherapy room!" she exclaims. "I'll be right there, don't worry." She starts to walk to the door, stopping by one of the chairs and pulling something out of a paper bag I don't remember her bringing. It's a cherry red sweatshirt and a pair of black sweatpants.

"Wh-where'd you get that?" I question shakily.

"I thought it would be a nice replacement for these ugly, uncomfortable hospital gowns they make you wear. I wanted to get you a t-shirt but it might be hard for you to put on and take off without removing your cannula. Don't worry; it's really nice and soft on the inside." She walks over to me once again and places the clothes on the table beside me. "But first, you're gonna have to get up and take off that gown."

I start to stand up, but immediately sit right back down, grabbing the bucket and leaning over it. Devektra puts her hand and my back, rubbing it.

"Hey, if you want to just get it over with, stick one of your fingers into your throat, you'll activate your gag reflex." I do as she says, throwing up about three more times before I finally feel better. When I lean back and away from the bucket, Devektra takes it as a sign that I'm done and reaches to take it away and set it on the ground.

"Thank you," I mumble. Devektra gives me a small cup of water and tells me to drink it slowly. When I'm finished with it, she offers me her hand.

"Now come on, you wanna stand up and change?" Her blue eyes shine brightly, the light from the window dancing off of them and making them look like the ocean. I smile weakly and grab onto her hand, having her help me to my feet. I sway a little bit, but now that I'm able to actually breathe, it's much easier than before I came to the hospital.

"Should I take the gown off?" I ask. Devektra nods.

"Yes." As soon as she answers, I reach back behind me and unsnap the clip holding it together. After shrugging it off, I'm left in only my boxers. Devektra hands me the sweatpants and I put them on, doing the same with the sweatshirt, making sure that the cannula is out of the way as I zip it up. She was right; it is really soft on the inside. "Let's go!"

Her excitement is contagious, causing me to laugh and follow her, pulling the portable oxygen tank with me, as she practically skips out of my room; only I walk. When I step out into the hallway, Devektra squeals and grabs my hand, bouncing up and down. Slowly, because I'm still not used to walking, we make our way down the hallway. I have to admit, I feel better than I can remember feeling in a long time, and happier too. Either that or Devektra's enthusiasm is the most contagious thing on the planet.

**Marina-**

After Joseph left, my thoughts were to unorganized to focus on my calculus homework, so, I put it aside for tonight, a small part of me hoping that I'll somehow learn how to do it as the day went by. Now, though, I'm starting to regret that decision. Nothing changed. I'm still as stuck as before, only this time, it's at night.

"Dammit!" I yell, throwing my pencil down. I can't focus on anything. _ Except for Joseph,_ my mind tells me, causing my cheeks to get red for no reason. I'm not usually like this. But there's just something about this whole situation that's making it really hard to do my homework, and it's not only because I can't figure it out.

I reach to pick up my pencil when I realize it rolled off the bed and onto the floor where I can't get it. As if this couldn't get any worse.

"Oh come on!" I put my head into my hands; ready to give up, when I hear a soft knock on the door. My heartbeat speeds up a little with the thought that it might be Joseph.

"H-hello? Are you okay? You sound upset," the person on the other side of the door asks. I practically sag with disappointment; it's not him, it's just some other guy.

"I'm fine," I snap. I glare down at the page of calculus, unaware of the door opening. I do notice, however, when someone clears their throat, causing me to look over in their direction. What I see surprises me, and makes me feel guilty for yelling.

A man stands there, peeking around the half-open door, his hair messy and falling in his face. A couple of freckles dot his pale cheeks, and the black of his hair only makes his skin look whiter, almost like he's some delicate porcelain doll. He's dressed in a simple cherry red sweatshirt and a pair of dark sweatpants, which looks much comfier than the gown I'm wearing. There is some sort of contraption sticking up his nose, the two separate sides that wrap around his ears, holding it up, merge at one point to form one thin, plastic tube that runs out of sight, probably connected to something that's out in the hallway.

Awkwardly, the man rubs his arm. "Can I come in?" My anger seems to disappear, replaced by guilt at yelling at him. He's just another patient who probably came to say hi. So far though, I haven't seen him around, unlike many of the others, who stopped by to see the new member of their wing.

"Sure," I answer. He smiles weakly and opens the door wider, walking in and pulling something that looks like a small backpack on wheels. It takes me a second to see the silvery glint of what I soon recognize to be a tank.

The man sees me staring at it and says, "It's an oxygen tank. They made it like that so I could carry it on my back if I needed to. It also has pockets." He bends down and unzips on of the side pockets, showing me. I nod, suddenly understanding. So the little tube in his nose is giving him oxygen. Hmm, I wonder what's wrong with him, obviously it's something serious, if he needs an oxygen tank and he's staying in the same wing I am.

I'm here because I have a terrible fracture in my leg; the bone was sticking out of my skin. The doctors say it's the worst one they've seen in a while. I'm pretty bruised up everywhere else but my leg is the reason I'm in the B wing.

I watch him as he walks further into my room and closes the door. He looks around and sees the workbook on my lap and the pencil on the ground, just out of my reach. He walks over and picks it up, handing it to me.

"Thanks," I say politely. "Uh, what's your name?"

"Sandor," he replies, pulling one of the chairs up next to my bed and sitting down, seeming relieved at not having to stand. "And you are?"

"Marina." I place the pencil on the bedside table and awkwardly twiddle my thumbs, not sure what to say. I want to ask him why he's here, but that's rude. Sandor leans over and glances at my workbook, looking at the problems.

"Is this calculus homework?"

"Yeah, I don't want to fall behind."

"Do you even know how to do it?" he asks, pointing to one of my few answered questions, which is probably wrong.

"No," I admit, staring down.

"I can, uh, teach you."

"Really?" I can't believe my luck.

"Yeah, I'm pretty good at math." He reaches over and grabs the pencil, starting to explain my homework, telling me how to do it.

…

About a good half an hour later, I'm finished with tonight's homework and feeling much less frustrated. After I finally wrote in the answers to the last problem, Sandor high-fived me and told me I did good for not learning this in school. Honestly, I like this one-on-one tutoring better than class. I learned more with Sandor than in my regular class in half the time.

But now it's almost 10:00, and Sandor came in at 8:00. Joseph also came in a while ago and the three of us decided to watch a movie. Picking the movie was hard, since I wanted something like _The Fault in Our Stars_ or _Titanic_, Joseph wanted something like the _Avengers_ or _Fantastic Four,_ and Sandor wanted _James Bond _or _Sherlock_. Eventually, we decided on _Mission Impossible II_, which had enough action for Joseph, spies and stuff like that for Sandor and even some romance for me. As we watch, I find myself sneaking looks at Joseph as he sits on the other side of my bed, transfixed by the action of it all. When he turns around to look at me, I quickly turn away and focus on the movie, blushing. Sandor sits on my other side, massaging his temples with his fingers. He looks like he's in a bit of pain. I don't ask him about it though, because it would, again, be rude. If he doesn't want to talk about it, he doesn't have to talk about it.

Joseph turns the TV off when the movie finishes, the credits rolling across the screen, and turns to us.

"So? How was it?" he asks, turning to us.

"It was great!" I exclaim. "Did you like it?" I turn to Sandor, who is frowning. Sandor, upon being looked at, immediately puts on a fake smile, but I notice it. Joseph does too.

"What's wrong, Sandor?" he questions with concern. Sandor sighs; realizing that we know something's wrong and resumes rubbing his temples.

"N-nothing. Just a headache," he mutters.

"Seems like more than just a headache to me, you also seem pretty bummed for seemingly no reason," Joseph says. "What's actually wrong, like, why are you here?" Sandor stares down at the floor.

"Stage four lung cancer metastatic to the brain," he murmurs, so quietly it's almost a whisper. "They say I'll only last about four months, if I even make it that far."

"Oh, I'm uh, sorry." Joseph doesn't know what to say. I don't either, I can't imagine knowing for certain I'll be dead within a year. It must be terrifying. I reach out and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up.

"It's okay," I say, trying to reassure him. "Come here." I open my arms and gesture for him to come closer. When he does, I reach as far forward as possible and hug him, careful not to pull on the small tube connecting him to his oxygen tank. Before I know it, Joseph has joined us, wrapping his long arms around the two of us and squeezing.

I gasp, surprised by Joseph's strength and Sandor lets out a half-wheeze and half-laugh, starting to smile weakly.

"Thank you," he says when Joseph finally releases us. "I needed that."

"Anytime, my friend, anytime," Joseph exclaims while patting Sandor on the back. "Maybe you should get back to your room."

"Yeah," he sighs. "I'm actually right across the hall."

"Really?" I ask. "Well then, as soon as I can walk or even just wheel myself around in a wheelchair, I'll come visit you, alright?" Sandor smiles.

"Okay." He walks over to the door and gives us a wave. "See you soon!"

"Bye!" Joseph and I wave back, and as soon as the door closes, Joseph turns to face me.

"I'll be going now," he says, a small grin crossing his face. "Unless you want me to stay."

"You can stay," I reply, a small smile surfacing. His grin widens and he walks over and sits down in the chair Sandor was using and starts talking. At some point, I realize our hands are touching and that makes me really happy for some reason. I start to drift off, and before I know it, I'm fast asleep.

* * *

**Well? I think I'm gonna have Sandor, Joseph and Marina be, like, hospital besties or something.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone! I have another update for this story, instead of my other one (sorry). **

**I'm not sure If I'm going to keep writing my other story, A New Hope, because of _The Revenge of Seven_ coming out real soon. Also, I have a bit of writer's block and I can't seem to continue it. The problem is that while I was on chapter 3, I was making plans for, say, chapter 16, only, I didn't plan out what leads up to it. So, I have all of these big plans without any logical way to lead up to them. It's really hard to write like that, especially because I was planning before I actually started writing. Also, I want to follow what is canon, and that means it's going to be really hard to write while _The Revenge of Seven_ is just sitting there with a plot I really want to follow. With an AU, it's different, because there's no way I'll be able to follow what's canon because it's an AU. On this story, I only have a few things certain (like the pairings and who dies). Everything else, I make up as I go. So, sadly, I don't think I'm going to continue my other story. I'll still update it if I somehow get inspiration. I wish I could still write it, I was really excited for it. Oh well, sorry about that.  
**

**I had to pause several times while writing this chapter to take a drink of water, it was kinda intense in my head. I would hate to be Maren and have what happens in her dream happen to me. That would be ****terrible.**

**WARNING: Mentions of self harm and suicide (dark stuff, I know).**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Lorien Legacies or the characters in it.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Maren-**

I glare down at the math page in front of me, the word problem taunting me. Compared to Marina's work, this should a piece of cake. Well, it's not to me. I suck at math. As of now, I have a D in the class. Even Eve isn't this bad, she just skips class all the time.

_There are 3 rivers and after each river lies a grave. So there are 3 rivers and 3 graves. A man wants to leave the SAME amount of flowers at each grave, and be left with none at the end. What happens though is that each time he passes through one of the rivers the number of flowers he has doubles. So he has to start off with what number of flowers, taking into consideration that they double, so that he is left with no flowers whatsoever at the end?_

Ugh, I wish we were doing geometry, that's much easier. Word problems are the worst. Groaning, I put my head in my hands, trying to think. I don't even know how to do this problem; the teacher's explanation didn't make any sense to me.

After wasting twenty more minutes just staring down at the same question, I decide to take a break and get a quick midnight snack.

Yes, midnight. I was busy writing a history paper that I completely ignored until tonight, which is the night before it's due. That took a while because I had to do a ton of research for it. I also had to do several worksheets and a study guide for French and bake a cake (It didn't go well. Needless to say, I spent two hours cleaning the kitchen).

I didn't even start my homework until six and took at least five breaks. I think I have a procrastination problem when it comes to school.

After grabbing a can of orange soda from the fridge, I make my way back through the dark hallway and to my room. I take a detour, however, when I hear crying from the bathroom.

My feet make no sound as I creep across the floorboards and peer through the crack in the door. Behind it and in the bathroom, sits my mom with a blade pressed to her arm. I can see two new cuts already there, the blood running down her arm with the help of her tears. My mother takes a deep breath and drags the razor blade across her arm a third time, letting out a silent sob as she does so.

Every instinct in me tells me to go in there and take the blade away, but that will just make her mad. I got involved before, and she yelled at me telling me to mind my business and that she would handle it.

Obviously, she did a very bad job at that. She promised me she would stop cutting, and I thought she did. I was so stupid.

Knowing that if she catches me it would only make it worse, I quietly crawl away, quickly running back to my room as soon as I'm far enough away from that bathroom.

When I get to my room, I slam the door and turn off the lights and curl up in my bed, starting to cry. Screw homework, so what if I fail math. I can't do it anyway.

My shoulders shake as I sob, not even trying to be quiet. My mom can't hear me; the walls are pretty well soundproofed. I only heard her because the door was partly open.

I lay like that for what seems like an eternity, grossly sobbing until I can't anymore. Then, I just lie there and wait for sleep to take me.

…

"_Mom? I'm home!" I announce, swinging the door open. It hits the wall with a loud BAM, the sound echoing through the silent house. I notice the eerie stillness quickly. The house is quiet, too quiet. I walk through the open doorway and drop my backpack down at the kitchen table. "Mom?"_

_There's no reply._

_A wave of fear rushes through me, horrible thoughts filling my mind. No, no, no, no, no, no. This can't be happening._

"_Mom!" I start to run through the house, searching every room. I first look in the living room. She's not there. Then I check the bathroom. Nothing. I look everywhere else, including the basement and even every damn closet and she's not there. I even check the backyard and the garden. No luck. By now, my breaths are coming in short, shallow anxiety-filled gasps. Where could she be?_

_I dash back into the house, sprinting up the stairs and down the hallway, to the bedrooms. First I check the bathroom upstairs. Next I check my room. She's not in any of them. There's only one more room to look at._

_I gulp and make my way over to my mom's room, the floorboards creaking under my sneakers, which I still haven't taken off. "Mom?"_

_I push the door to her bedroom open and peer inside. That's when I see her._

_A scream tears itself from my throat as I fall to my knees, staring at my mom, hanging from the ceiling fan, her body cold and lifeless._

"_MOM!" I wail, tears streaming down my face. No, please no. She can't be dead, she can't be. My mom is strong; she wouldn't do this. She can't do this; she can't do this to me. "KATARINA GODDAMMIT!" I wait for my dead mother to open her eyes and scold me for swearing and calling her by her first name, but she doesn't. She doesn't move; she just hangs there._

_Finally, after a long time, I gather the strength to get up and dial 9-1-1. My hands shake visibly as I handle the phone and hold it up to my ear._

"_This is 9-1-1, what is your emergency."_

"_M-my mom, she…" I start to cry again, not able to finish my sentence. "She's dead."_

"_Can you tell me your address?" The girl I'm talking to is calm, which makes me angry in my hysterical state. Through gritted teeth, I tell her my address and she says that they will send someone to help. After she hangs up, I call my aunt and tell her the terrible news. _

_My aunt starts to cry as soon as I say, "Mom's dead." Then, when she manages to get a grip, she tells me she'll be over as fast as she can, then says good-bye, ending the call. I start to turn around, wanting to just run away when I see my mom standing behind me, her skin still pale and lifeless and her eyes sunken and pitch black, her face full of rage. She's growling, her hair messy, and her back is hunched._

_She looks like a zombie, the kind that wants to tear me apart, use my intestines as a jump rope, and eat my brains._

"_WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE ME?" she screams in my face, lunging forward with a knife she didn't have three seconds ago. I close my eyes, waiting for the fatal blow, tears streaming down my face. "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE ME?"_

…

Right as the tip of the knife plunges through my skull, I wake up gasping and sobbing, the sheets sticking to me. I kick them off the bed and sit up, trying to catch my breath. The clock reads 4:27 am. Frantically, I pick up my phone, scrolling through my contacts until I find the person I want. When I find the right one, I immediately call them.

I start to cry again as the phone rings, praying that he picks up. After seven rings, it clicks, and a groggy voice answers.

"Hello?" Stanley asks. It sounds like I just woke him up. I mean to apologize, but I can't, all I seem to be able to do is cry. He notices that something's wrong very quickly. "Maren?" His voice is full of concern and worry, suddenly wide-awake.

"S-Stanley?" That's the only thing I can say before I sob again. My chest hurts and my cries are getting hoarse.

"Maren, holy shit, what happened to you?"

"I-I had a bad dream," I tell him shakily.

"It must have been pretty bad."

"It was." My voice squeaks.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Hold on." He hangs up and I drop the phone, falling back onto my covers and sobbing. He hung up on me, right when I needed him. I lay like that for a while, crying and unable to fall asleep with my nightmare replaying itself in my head, when I hear a faint tapping noise. I quiet down at once, laying completely still, my eyes wide. The sound comes again. _Tap. Tap. Tap._

It almost sounds like it's coming from my window. I glance at the clock, noting that it's now 5:03. I climb out of bed slowly, wincing at the smallest sound, and tiptoe over to the window and gaze out. There, on my lawn, wearing only a hoodie and boxers, is Stanley.

After I get him inside and lead him to my room, I collapse back on the bed and he hugs me, telling me its okay. While I cry, he gently rubs my back and kisses my forehead. I pay no attention to it. When I'm done, he tilts my chin up, looking into my eyes, and pushes a strand of my hair behind my ear.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" he asks, his icy eyes surprisingly warm. I gulp and shrug, staring down. Stanley takes my hand and squeezes, reassuring me. When I decide to talk, I start to tell him everything, starting with my mom and how she became depressed after my dad left us.

"It wasn't bad until my grandfather died. She was supposed to visit him that day, and she felt that if she would have been there, she could have saved him. That was when she started to cut. She was clean for almost a year, then the anniversary of his death came along and she acted just fine. I thought nothing was wrong, then yesterday, I saw her in the bathroom, a blade in hand, sobbing and dragging that horrible thing across her arm. I didn't confront her though, because she said not to. Then I went to sleep and had a horrible nightmare." I shiver, thinking about it. "In my nightmare, I came home from a normal day at school. The house was really quiet, too quiet. I called for my mom but she wouldn't answer. That's when I got scared. I started running through the house, looking for her. I found her, in her room, dead. She, she hung herself…" I pause, fighting the tears that threaten to fall. "I remember calling 9-1-1 and then my aunt, and then after I hung up, my mom was standing behind me. She was really mad, and she screamed 'Why didn't you save me?" twice before stabbing me in the head with a knife." I look up at him, still blinking away tears. No matter what I do, I can't hide the shaking in my voice, or my hands.

Stanley squeezes me tighter, noticing my shaking, and turns me so my forehead touches his. He stares into my eyes and I stare back, getting lost into the artic blue. Before I know what's happening, he tilts his head slightly to the side and leans forward, kissing me gently. Just as my brain figures out what's going on, he pulls away, cheeks flushed.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't know what I was do…" I interrupt him, wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing my lips to his. He responds quickly, kissing back almost immediately. He wraps his arms around my waist and I lean into him, the innocent kissing turning into a full-blown make out session.

He's the first to pull away, opening his eyes and staring at me, surprised. I begin to worry that I did something wrong when a wild grin spreads across his face.

"Whoa. I didn't think that would work, I thought you'd turn me down and I would ruin the friendship. When I kissed you, I freaked out because, what if you didn't like me like that? Apparently you do." His words tumble out of his mouth in a rush, and then he laughs, breathless. "That was freaking amazing, you're an amazing kisser." I blush.

"No, it wasn't that good. I think I bit your lip."

"So what? Maren likes me, she actually likes me as more than a friend, I can't believe it." He shakes his head. "I thought for sure you'd push me away and be weirded out, that's how it happened with my first girlfriend. It was my first kiss, actually. I was really bummed." I laugh, feeling better than I did before. If this is how Stanley comforts scared people then I wouldn't mind being terrified all the time.

"That relationship probably didn't last long."

"It didn't, but I was sad. I really liked her. But, as time went on, I realized that she didn't even like me from the start, which broke my heart even more. I swore off girls until you came around, then, it was just like seeing Maddy all over again for the first time. I had no idea what to do."

"At the hospital?"

"No, before then. I kinda had a thing for you for a while before that. I just never had the nerve to talk to you." He smiles sheepishly. "But look where I am now."

"_You_ didn't have the nerve to talk to _me?"_ I ask incredulous.

"I swear; I just didn't want to get heartbroken again."

"Whatever you say," I tease, lying down. Stanley lies with me and I rest my head against his chest, my arm draped across his stomach. He wraps one arm around me and places the other one on my hand. We lay like that for a while as the sun starts to rise.

"You know, we have school in, like, an hour," he whispers.

"I know."

"I guess I don't have time to go home and change." That causes me to smile.

"Don't worry, we can be late. I don't mind missing math," I say.

"Well I do, I want to get a good grade. If I fail math I won't be allowed on the football team."

"Your grade can't be that bad," I mutter, shifting so I can look at him.

"Oh yeah? I have a C right now." I laugh.

"Uh huh, I have a D. And I didn't do the math homework." Stanley pouts.

"Oh come on, I've been working on improving my grade for Sandor, he made me get a tutor at the beginning of the year and everything." He gives me a pleading look. "I'll let you copy my math homework."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Sandor helped me with it."

"Great! I might not fail after all!" I exclaim, kissing him. I start to get up. "We should get ready, to make sure we get there on time."

"Yeah, we should," he agrees, doing the same.

…

We make it to math on time, barely. Stanley had to skip showing me his answers if we didn't want to be late. Mr. Endyum goes over the math problem I was stuck on, starting to write the answer on the board. I stare up at it, not understanding how he got it at all. When he finishes writing, this is what's up there:

_Let f be the starting number of flowers, and g be the number left at every grave._

_((f*2-g)*2-g)*2-g=0_

_(4f-2g-g)*2-g=0_

_8f-4g-2g-g=0_

_8f-7g=0_

_8f=7g_

_Assume f and g are nonnegative integers._

_f=7g/8, so 7g must be a multiple of 8, so g must be a multiple of 8._

_g=8f/7, so 8f must be a multiple of 7, so f must be a multiple of 7._

_So all nonnegative g that are multiples of 8 are solutions. The first few are listed:_

_f=0, g=0._

_f=7, g=8._

_f=14, g=16, etc._

_Of these, the simplest solution is to start off with zero flowers, and snub each grave. If you gave me any of the solutions, above (or their negatives) I gave you 5 points. If you characterized the whole set of solutions, I gave you 6 points. _

I must have looked really confused, because Mr. Endyum stops me after class.

"Maren, I noticed you didn't do the homework last night, and you looked more than a little confused while I was explaining the answer."

"Yeah, I am," I admit, not wanting to cause trouble. But, because I can't help myself, I add a quick, "So?" onto the end of it.

"_So_, I think you should consider getting a tutor."

"A tutor?" I scoff.

"Yes, I'll let you look for someone first, and if you refuse I'll assign someone for you." I sigh, knowing I can't win.

"Okay, fine, I'll get a tutor."

"Great!"

**Marina-**

"Marina!" Maren calls, I can hear her running down the hallway. Confused, I put my textbook down and wait for her to burst in through the door. Sandor sits next to me; he was explaining the science lesson I missed. "Marina, Marina, Marina, Marina, Marina!" After her fifth "Marina," Maren runs into my hospital room, her backpack still slung over her back.

"Yes?" I ask. She doesn't even glance at Sandor, just shoves a paper in my face.

"I need you to be my math tutor."

"Really?"

"Yes! I don't want Mr. Endyum to assign me someone; I'd rather have you. You already know the shit I'm learning, so please, please, _please_ be my tutor," she begs, clasping her hands together. "I'll do anything you want!"

"Anything?" I ask slyly.

"Yes!"

"Okay, on one condition: you have to give me a sponge bath."

"What? Eww, no way!" Maren makes a face, glaring at me. Beside me, Sandor snorts.

"Can you throw me into the deal too? A sponge bath for you and a sponge bath for me?" he asks jokingly. Maren fake gags.

"Gross, no," she huffs. Sandor and I laugh.

"I was just kidding, of course I'll do it," I say. Maren's face lights up.

"Thank you!" she says, hugging me. When she pulls away, she's still grinning.

"What else happened?" I ask, leaning forward. "You can't be that happy over getting tutored." Maren blushes. "Ooh," I say, catching on. "Is it about that guy?"

"Maybe."

"Did you kiss?"

"Maybe." I cheer.

"Finally! You haven't had a boyfriend in forever!" I exclaim.

"Neither have you, Mar," she counters, smiling. Just then, Sandor fake coughs loudly, clearing his throat.

"Oh, sorry. Maren, this is Sandor. Sandor, this is Maren," I say, introducing them. They shake hands.

"Wait, Sandor as in Sandor Worthington?" Maren asks, narrowing her eyes.

"Why yes, " he answers. "How did you know that?"

"I'm, uh, uhm…" Maren trails off, not sure what to say. "I'msortakindadatingyournephew."

"Oh really?" Sandor is enjoying making her uncomfortable. He obviously knows about her and Stanley, I think Stanley might have visited earlier before his football game.

"Uhm, yeah," she mutters, blushing.

"Well, nice to meet you!" he says, grinning. There's a knock at the door and Devektra pokes her head in, gesturing for Sandor to come with her. "But, uh, I have to go now, so see you later." He gets up from his chair and makes his way over to the door. I give him a thumbs up and he blushes slightly before following her.

Maren and I continue to talk, telling each other about what's been going on, and I drill her about what happened between her and Stanley. She tells me about her nightmare and about her mom and then about Stanley coming over to her house at 5:00 in the morning to comfort her.

Just as I start to tell her about what has happened to me, Joseph comes in, smiling when he realizes I have company.

"Who is this lovely lady?" he asks. Maren smiles and introduces herself. "Well, I'm Joseph, nice to meet you."

"Ooh, so _you're_ Joseph. It is _very_ nice to meet you, I've heard _so_ many good things about you." She gives me a look and I blush, looking away. Joseph smiles playfully.

"And I've heard some things about you too, you're her best friend, right?"

"Yes, I am." Maren shakes his hand. Joseph joins in our conversation and we end up talking for a long time, my science homework long forgotten. Before Maren leaves, she lets it slip that I like him a bit more than in a friendly way. I'm not sure if he notices or not, but when he leaves, he gives me a smile that's different then what he usually does.

**Sandor-**

After the MRI, I'm sitting in my room, reading, when Devektra comes in.

"Hey Sandor!" she greets happily.

"Hey," I mumble. I must not look happy, because Devektra's face falls.

"Are you okay?" She asks, concerned.

"Not really," I mutter, closing my book and staring down.

"Why?"

"The MRI results." I reply. Why are the MRI results so bad? Well, they said that the tumors are growing faster than they were before, which means I'm gonna die sooner. If they don't find a working medicine quick, I'm done for.

Devektra tries to reassure me.

"Well they don't mean shit. Who knows? Maybe tomorrow they'll stop growing for a couple of months." I appreciate her trying to cheer me up, but it's not working. I'm going to die. And the doctors are saying I'm getting depressed. I think it might be true though. It's harder and harder to be happy knowing I'm gonna die within a year. "Anyway, I have a surprise for you."

"What is it?"

"We're going out."

"Out?"

"Yes, it took some miracle-working on my part, but I convinced the doctors to let me take you out of the hospital as a test. We can do whatever you want, like go see a movie, go to the park, go shopping, go out to dinner, anything! And if all goes well, they might let you go home, although I'd have to come with to show you the ropes of taking care of yourself."

"Really?" Now I'm getting excited.

"Yeah, so come on, slow poke, the outdoors awaits!"

…

Devektra wasn't lying.

I'm smiling, the wind whipping at my hair as Devektra drives down a road, slightly faster than she's supposed to. Music from her IPod blares through her speakers and Devektra sings loudly along with the lyrics.

"Should this be the last thing I see

I want you to know it's enough for me

Cause all that you are is all that I'll ever need," Devektra sings, her curly, platinum blonde hair blown in all directions from the wind. I lean my head against the window, listening to her beautiful voice.

"I'm so in love, so in love,

So in love, so in love," She grins and looks over at me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just listening," I answer, flustered. "Your voice, it's, um, amazing." Devektra blushes.

"Thank you," she says, tapping the steering wheel. "You know, this is my favorite song."

"Really?" I ask.

"Yeah, I just love it so much, it's called _Tenerife Sea_ by Ed Sheeran."

"Hmmm." I nod, listening to the song more intently now. I can see why she likes it, it's really is a beautiful song. I never really paid attention to the lyrics, though.

Devektra pulls the car over near Lake Michigan and we get out, starting to take a walk. I'm just glad to be outside, the cool breeze from the lake spraying my face. It's refreshing. We stop at one of the benches and Devektra has me sit while she gets us ice cream.

While I'm sitting, a little girl walks up to me.

"Excuse me, sir, but I was wondering, what is that thingy in your nose?" she asks. I turn to her and smile, just as her mom comes up to scold her.

"Leila, that's rude," her mom says harshly. Then she looks at me apologetically. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay." I turn back to the kid. "It's called a cannula, it helps me breathe."

"Really? Does it work?"

"Yes, it works very well." The little girl smiles. "Can I try?"

"Um, sure." Not sure what I'm doing, I remove the cannula from my nose and put it on her. The girl breathes in deeply, her smile widening.

"Wow! It really does work!" she exclaims. I smile, starting to get light-headed. The girl takes it of and hands it back to me. Before I put it back on, I wipe it off on my sweatshirt.

After the cannula is back in place, I inhale; taking the deepest breath I can, and grab the bench for support to stop the world from spinning. After I get my breathing back under control, I turn to face the little girl again.

"Are you okay?" she asks. I nod.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just, unlike you, my lungs don't work very well."

"Oh, get well soon!" I ruffle her hair and she giggles, letting her mom pull her away. I smile sadly, knowing that I won't get well soon. When I turn around to see where Devektra is, I'm surprised to find her standing right there behind me.

"Awww, that's adorable. You're so great with kids," she coos, handing me my ice cream. Once I feel okay to walk again, we turn around and go back to the car and drive to a restaurant Devektra made reservations at.

…

The restaurant is very fancy, and the food is delicious. I mentally thank the lord that I didn't have chemo right before we went out (because that would have ended badly) and eat a lot. By the time we finish dessert, the two of us are both stuffed. We talk, mainly about our lives before I came to the hospital. At one point, I bring up her singing and tell her she should become a professional singer.

"No, I can't do that," she mutters, looking down.

"Why not, everyone would love you, you would be famous!"

"It's just, I got stage fright, alright? I can't sing in font of other people unless I'm comfortable with them." Her cheeks are red.

"You should try," I urge.

"No! I'm horrible."

"HEY EVERYBODY!" I yell, every person in the restaurant turns to face me. "MY FRIEND HERE THINKS SHE'S A HORRIBLE SINGER! CAN YOU ALL LISTEN TO HER SING AND TELL HER WHAT YOU REALLY THINK?"

"Sandor!" Devektra protests. I look at her. She has her head in her hands, peeking up at me through her fingers.

"C'mon, sing! Sing your favorite song." When she doesn't budge, I give her my version of the puppy eyes. "For me?"

"Fine!" Devektra stands up, sweating nervously. "Uhm," she clears her throat and starts to sing.

"You look so wonderful in your dress

I love your hair like that

The way it falls on the side of your neck

Down your shoulders and back

We are surrounded by all of these lies

And people who talk too much

You got the kind of look in your eyes

As if no one knows anything but us

Should this be the last thing I see

I want you to know it's enough for me

'Cause all that you are is all that I'll ever need

I'm so in love, so in love

So in love, so in love

You look so beautiful in this light

Your silhouette over me

The way it brings out the blue in your eyes

Is the Tenerife Sea

And all of the voices surrounding us here

They just fade out when you take a breath

Just say the word and I will disappear

Into the wilderness

Should this be the last thing I see

I want you to know it's enough for me

'Cause all that you are is all that I'll ever need," she pauses to take a breath. The people eating think she's done though, and they start to clap and cheer. Devektra turns bright red and I yell over the others.

"See? They love you!"

…

We drive back to the hospital in silence. It's not awkward or anything, just, silence. After we get beck, Devektra takes me to my room and helps me back into bed. As she leaves the room, she pauses.

"Thank you, Sandor. I wouldn't have been able to do that without you. Thank you."

"Your welcome," I say. She smiles.

"Goodnight, Sandor."

"Goodnight." Devektra closes my door and I immediately take out my IPhone, downloading _Tenerife Sea_ onto it. I listen to it on repeat until I fall asleep, studying everything about it, and paying attention to they lyrics this time. After the tenth time of it playing and when my eyelids start to get heavy, I think I've finally started to understand Devektra a lot more than I did before, just by listening to a song.

The last words I hear before falling asleep are, "Should this be the last thing I see, I want you to know it's enough for me."

* * *

**Well? I saw a post on Tumblr by someone (I forgot who) who found this song (_Tenerife Sea_) and said it resembled Sandor and Devektra. If you are reading this, thank you for posting that. Hoped you liked the Nix. **

**See you the next time I update (hopefully soon).**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey y'all! I finished this chapter, despite it being a school night! I wrote, like, the last 1000 words listening to music. I just bought a bunch of new songs from American Authors and I love them all (I think I've listened to them all at least 3 times each). Music makes everything (especially math) better.**

**So, this chapter has some Nix, some Devedor (that's what it's called, right?) and some Maggie/Hannu. I feel so bad for Sandor right now, I'm making him miserable. Also, there's a little backstory of Devektra (not really important and at the same time very important).**

**And I apologize if the ****football scene was bad; I don't play, or, really pay attention in gym class.**

**Well, I don't have much to say this time.**

**DISCLAIMER: There is no chance of this happening in the Lorien Legacies books, so I'm obviously not Pittacus Lore. These characters don't belong to me.**

**I hope you like it!**

* * *

**Stanley-**

"Hike!" Mark shouts, Kevin snapping him the ball. Immediately, the rest of us take off. I sprint down the field near the out of bounds line, turning around so I can wave my arms to tell Mark to throw to me. I'm a wide receiver, and sometimes a quarterback. Mark and I switch off every once in a while.

Right now, I'm a wide receiver.

Mark sees me and throws the ball. It soars across the field-Mark is a really good quarterback-and I catch it, turning around and sprinting. There's a reason I'm in this position: I can run. Fast. I even hold the school record for fastest mile and I'm in the top national percentile. The other defensive players all run after me, trying desperately to catch up.

Vaguely, I can hear all of my teammates cheering me on. This is the first time I've gotten the ball since the start of the game. I'm glad the coach decided to switch me; I was getting bored with getting tackled. The reason Mark is usually the quarterback is that I take too long to throw the ball.

One of the defensive players jumps in front of me and I veer right to avoid crashing into him, still sprinting. I only slow down and stop once I've crossed the line. Man, I'm glad the plan worked. I don't like pretending to suck. I turn around to see Mark James jogging over to me.

"Nice catch!" he congratulates, patting me on the back.

"And nice throw," I reply. He was the one to come up with the plan where I pretended to be horrible at football, dropping the ball on multiple occasions, to make sure I was almost completely ignored by the end play. Then, because I didn't seem like much of a threat anymore, despite my size, Mark passed to me and I played for real, catching the ball like I usually do and sprinting away as fast as I can. Now, thanks to Mark's plan and my speed, we've won the game.

I wave goodbye to my football friends after celebrating and join my closer friends in the stands. None of them play football, although John plays baseball and Hannu plays basketball. Sam and Cody aren't on any sports teams. They're just not the athletic type. Cody is, however, one of the best artists in the school and Sam is very smart and is scary good at chess (I don't even understand the game).

"Great game, bro," John says, giving me a nod. I smile back at him, ready to teasingly boast about my skills when I see her.

It's Maren.

She's walking over towards us, pulling a woman who I'm assuming is her mom along with her. She's grinning, and, as soon as she's close enough, she drops her mother's hand and wraps both arms around my neck, kissing me hard on the mouth. After she pulls away, I notice that all of my friends are staring. John is giving me a look of approval, Cody is awkwardly scratching his neck-he's very socially awkward, not that it's hard to notice-Hannu is grinning like a madman and Sam wolf whistles.

"Nice play, looks like I have an adequate running partner now, eh?" she laughs, linking her arm with mine.

"Adequate, more like challenging," I joke. She kisses me again and I can feel her smiling against my lips.

"Yeah right," she remarks, playfully slapping my shoulder.

"So, I'm guessing this is your new girlfriend, right?" John asks. Maren grins.

"Yup!" she exclaims, pulling me away and to where the woman stands. She waves.

"So _you're_ Stanley, Maren has bugged me all day to come see your game," she says, smiling. "I'm Katarina, Maren's mom."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Jones." I shake her hand. Maren watches the exchange, beaming. She comes up to me and whispers in my ear.

"I have a surprise for you," she mumbles, so quiet only I can hear.

"What is it?" I ask excitedly. She just smiles as someone walks up behind her. Maren steps out of the way and my jaw drops.

"Sandor!" I exclaim, running forward and throwing my arms around him. "You-you're out! They let you out!" Sandor chuckles.

"Yeah, I am. Not forever though, I just wanted to surprise you," he explains, hugging me back. After I pull away, I notice the woman standing behind him. It's his nurse, Devektra. She's wearing a pink blouse and a white jacket, her platinum blonde hair pulled up in a high ponytail.

"Well, I definitely am surprised," I laugh, trying not to notice how pale he seems, especially since he's wearing a navy zip up hoodie. "Are you going to come home?"

"Maybe." He shrugs.

"I hope so, I like living with you instead of my cousins."

"What's wrong with them?"

"I don't think they know what 'sleep' or 'quiet' is." Sandor laughs.

"I don't think their mother did either," he says, probably remembering the days when he still lived at home with his two older sisters. I remember him telling me about my mom and how his room was right between his sisters. And, by the way he describes it, they didn't seem to sleep at all, so that means he didn't either.

I would have hated to grow up in that house; I need my beauty sleep!

"So, anyway, we were thinking," Maren starts. "That we could go to the pier. You know, you, me, Sandor, Devektra, Maggie, Hannu and my mom taking a little trip to navy pier. It'll be fun!" I ponder her offer.

"Hmm, sounds pretty good. But why are Hannu and Maggie coming?"

"I've set them up on a date." She winks at me, causing me to laugh. "So come on! Have some fun!" She nudges me. "There will be plenty of opportunities to kiss on the Ferris wheel."

"Alright, you got me. When do we leave?" I'm grinning like an idiot.

"How about now?" she asks, grabbing my arm and pulling me over to where Hannu stands, asking him to come with us. He agrees and we meet up with Maggie, Mrs. Jones, Sandor and Devektra in the parking lot.

…

The car ride to Navy Pier was pretty fun. Devektra, being the driver, brought her iPod and plugged it in. Sandor, who's sitting in shotgun, would sometimes complain when a song he hates came on but Devektra would retort with, "Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole."

Then, Maggie would yell about it being a Supernatural reference and the two of them would freak out and squeal like a bunch of little girls.

Then, after a song from someone like Justin Beiber, a different song would come on, one that everyone knows, and then soon all the people in the car, myself included, would start belting out the lyrics, laughing and grinning like idiots.

Hopelessly out of tune idiots, actually. We suck. Well, Devektra doesn't, but the rest of us kind of do. Maren can sing a little bit, and so can Sandor, but Maggie, Hannu and I sound like a tone deaf, dying hippopotamus, to put it nicely.

The first thing we decide to do is go ride the Ferris wheel. We go in pairs, me with Maren, Hannu with Maggie, and Sandor with Devektra. While we ride it, Mrs. Jones goes to make reservations at this restaurant called Riva for dinner.

While we stand in line, waiting for the Ferris wheel, Maren wraps her hand around mine, leaning her head against my chest.

"Don't you wish we could do this more often?" She asks, admiring the view of Chicago.

"Yeah," I chuckle. "Just maybe with fewer lines." Maren punches my shoulder and I feign being severely injured. Up ahead of us, Maggie and Hannu get into their car, meaning we're next. When it's our turn, one of the workers helps us get on and closes the door. Maren and I sit near the window, admiring the view once again.

"Wow!" she exclaims, pressing her face to the glass. "This is incredible! I've been here, like, four times now and I'm still amazed every single time."

"It sure is," I say, and I mean it. The sun is setting, making for the sky to be bright with reds and oranges and yellows. It's beautiful. We sit in silence, watching the scenery in awe, when I turn to my girlfriend, grinning. "We should kiss now, with, you know, the mood being so romantic."

"Hmmm, I like the way you think," Maren laughs, leaning forward to give me a passionate kiss. And I thought this night couldn't get any better.

Right now, as Maren and I kiss in a Ferris wheel on Navy Pier, I couldn't be happier. Everything about this moment is perfect and I wish I could live in it forever. It seems like Maren feels the same way, because when she pulls away, she's reluctant. "Oh God, I love you."

"I love you too." My smile is so big my face hurts. Faintly, I can hear cheering, and when I look to the riders next to us, I see Maggie jumping up and down, pumping her fist in the air. Behind her, on one of the seats, is Hannu, red-faced and dazed. I think they might've kissed like Maren and I.

"You go, Maren!" Maggie yells, giving her friend a thumbs up. Maren groans, blushing and putting her head in her hands.

"Sometimes, Maggie can be a bit…" Maren trails off and we both laugh as Maggie cheers some more, turning around and kissing Hannu again, and then raises her fists in the air in a victory chant. "… Eccentric," my girlfriend finishes, laughing.

**Sandor:**

After Maren and Stanley get on, Devektra and I are the last ones of our group still in line. I'm excited; I've always loved Ferris wheels and things like this.

Although, there's one thing that kind of dampers my mood: there is this strange pressure in my chest. It doesn't hurt; it's just there. And, to be honest, it's kind of bothering me. Also, the aspirin I took earlier is starting to wear off; meaning the headache I had earlier is starting to come back. This morning, the doctors checked to see if the headache was caused by the tumors in my head. It wasn't, because the tumors haven't grown since the last time they gave me a check up, so, I was free to go as long as I took some extra medicine.

We're the last ones of our group to get on, and once we start to rise, I scoot over to the window and look down at everything. Unlike some people, I love heights. I love the idea about being hundreds, or even thousands of feet above everything else and just observing, and I love how everything looks fake once you're a certain distance from the ground.

I'm so engrossed with staring out the window that it takes me some time to realize that Devektra isn't beside me, also looking out. When I do figure it out, I turn around, finding her sitting on the opposite seat, her knees pulled up to her chest.

"What's wrong, Devektra?" I ask, moving over to her side. When I get closer, I notice her hands are shaking. Devektra shakes her head.

"N-nothing, I can handle it," she stammers. I don't believe her for a second.

"It doesn't look like it. What's wrong?" I wrap my arms around her in a comforting embrace and she buries her face in my jacket.

"There was a little, tiny problem with me agreeing to do this," she starts. "I-I'm afraid of heights."

"You are?" I'm confused. If she's so scared of heights, why did she agree to come on the Ferris wheel?

"Yeah, I am."

"Then, why did you agree to do this?" Devektra lifts her head from my shoulder, fixing her sparkling blue eyes on mine.

"I just didn't want to let you down. You were so excited, and I couldn't just leave you alone, so it was either me and you don't go or we do," she explains, looking away. "So, I decided to brave it out. I didn't expect it to be this bad." She looks so scared, and for a second, I regret wanting to do this. But, I eventually have an idea.

"Hey, come with me," I say, pulling her to her feet. Devektra yelps, clinging to me like I'm her lifeline. Chuckling, I help her over to the window I was sitting at earlier, coaxing her up to the glass. "Look out, straight out. Not down." Devektra does what I tell her, her tight, fearful features relaxing slightly.

"It's really pretty," she whispers. We sit in silence, the car lowering, when suddenly, we hit some sort of bump, and the car starts rocking back and forth. I laugh, delighted. Devektra, however, lets out a high-pitched squeak and clings to me tighter.

"It's okay," I soothe, rubbing her back. Devektra doesn't let go of me until we are off the ride.

…

We're walking down the road to where Riva is when some guy walks into me. His shoulder hits mine, hard, and he stumbles forwards, walking straight into my oxygen tank. My head is jerked backwards when he walks into it and the cannula is ripped from my nose. I grunt, stopping at once to whip around and search desperately for it.

When I finally manage to detangle my cannula from the pissed-off man, I'm feeling extremely faint with the lack of oxygen. I put it back on and press both of my hands to the ground, trying to catch my breath and stop the world from spinning.

"Watch where you're going, dick," the man spits at me. I don't reply, mainly because I'm still trying to breathe. Devektra asks me if I'm okay and I nod weakly. All I need to do is catch my breath, right? After getting that response, Devektra starts to yell at the man with Stanley and Maren.

"You should watch where you're going, asshole!" Stanley shouts. The four of them yell back and forth while I stay seated on the ground. Something's not right. I should have been able to catch my breath by now. Instead, it feels like someone has wrapped both of their hands around my throat and is squeezing. I feel like I can't get enough air, even though the cannula and oxygen tank are giving me everything I need. Dark spots start to cloud my vision and I struggle to stay conscious. Everything hurts now. Especially breathing. And the worst part is: I don't know why.

My friends continue to scream and argue with the man, and security is coming over to see what's wrong. Over all the noise and commotion, I hear a faint hissing sound. Uh oh, that can't be good. I drag myself over to my oxygen tank and, sure enough, the closer I get the hissing gets louder. I run my hand down the thin plastic tube, hoping to find the hole and cover it with my thumb. I have no such luck. Discouraged, and teetering on the edge of consciousness, I continue to search until I come to the point where the tube connects with the oxygen tank. Half-blindly, I feel around that area and find that the part that connects my cannula to the tank is broken beyond repair. It's not just unscrewed and letting air out; it's destroyed. It must've broke when the man kicked it.

Now, I allow myself to panic. It's broken; the oxygen tank is broken. I can't get enough air now. In my blurred vision, I see some pinks and whites appear in front of me. Devektra. I think she's asking me what's wrong.

Knowing I have her attention, I fiddle with the broken piece of my tank and struggle to breathe, opening my mouth as if I'm going to speak. No sound comes out, though. Devektra's face suddenly becomes clearer and I allow myself a small smile. I think I'm delirious, and I have no idea how long it's been since I haven't gotten a good enough breath of air, but it's too long, and the pain and unconsciousness wins, pulling me down into darkness.

**Maren-**

"Why are you making such a big deal about this?" The man screams, getting all up in Stanley's face. Stanley shoves him back, looking more pissed then I've ever seen him.

"Why? Because he's fucking sick!" Stanley shouts; his hands clenched in fists. There are police officers trying to diffuse the fight, trying to pull the two apart. I'm kind of a bystander in this argument, Devektra and me are standing side-by-side and jumping in when needed. I'm so concentrated on the fight, I barely hear Devektra's worried cry.

"Sandor!" Devektra exclaims from my side, causing me to turn and face her as she kneels down to the ground next to Stanley's uncle. Oh shit.

Sandor is practically unconscious, barely breathing. Well, he sounds like he's trying to breathe, but he just can't. I don't understand, though. He has his oxygen tank and everything, but it doesn't seem to be working.

"Sandor? Are you okay?" she asks. Sandor doesn't say anything; he just pokes at something on his tank. He looks like he wants to say something, opening his mouth, but he can't. After closing his mouth, Sandor smiles weakly, almost as if he's saying it's okay, and then he closes his eyes and falls to the ground. Devektra moves him so his head is resting comfortably in her lap and while she leans over and inspects the part of the tank he was pointing at. When she looks up, she's pale.

"What?" I ask.

"It's broken, Sandor can't breathe." Then, to everyone else, she says, "Somebody call an ambulance!"

"On it." Hannu already has his phone out, dialing 9-1-1.

"Tell them to meet us near my car," Devektra instructs, effortlessly picking Sandor up in her arms. "Maren, get your mom." I nod and take off, though; I don't forget to give the bastard responsible for this a glare. "Wait!" I stop at Devektra's command.

"What?"

"Stanley, Maggie, you go with her. Hannu, you come with me." We all nod, three of us running towards Riva where my mom is waiting for us.

"Mom!" I yell, bursting though the doors. My mom leaps up from her spot at one of the tables, concerned.

"What? What's wrong, Maren?" she asks.

"It's Sandor…" I pant. "He's… hospital… now… let's go…" All of the color drains out of my mom's face.

"Oh no," she whispers, grabbing her bag and following us to the door.

**Devektra-**

The run to my car was pretty successful, despite me being out of practice. Hannu was a couple of yards behind me most of the way. I think he was having more than a little trouble keeping up.

When I get to my truck, I immediately lay Sandor's limp body on the ground and instruct Hannu to get the spare oxygen tank and mask out of the trunk. I toss him the keys, making note of the approaching sirens. They should be here quickly. I take his vitals, noticing that his heart rate is dangerously slow, and that he's barely breathing. I look back over at his oxygen tank, which has duct tape on it to try to make up for the broken seal. It only helped so much.

"Hannu!" I yell, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. I make sure to shove it down, locking it away and adopting a temporary look of stoicism, going into what the other doctors refer to as my "paramedic mode."

"Coming!" Hannu runs back over and I hook up the new tank. As soon as he starts to get oxygen, Sandor starts to sputter, gasping and coughing.

It's weak, and he obviously is in a lot of pain-who wouldn't be, he was just slowly suffocating-but at least he's breathing. Thank goodness he's not dead. I'm not sure what I'd do with myself if he died on my watch, especially when coming out here was my idea.

Sandor continues to cough and I rest my ear against his chest, listening. I don't have a stethoscope, but this will have to do. Even without it, I can hear how his coughs sound… wet. That's not good. There's only one explanation for that: fluid in his lungs, not uncommon in lung cancer patients, but deadly all the same if not drained.

When I lift my head from his chest, I notice he's awake. Well, barely awake is more like it. He's squinting, his face pinched tight in anguish, his eyes shining with tears. He sees me and inhales sharply, immediately wincing in pain, squeezing his chocolate-brown eyes shut and whimpering.

"Wha-what… happened?" he whispers.

"The guy who walked into you broke your oxygen tank, you couldn't breathe and passed out," I explain. The ambulance will be here any second. I just have to make sure his breathing stays somewhat normal.

"How… am I… not… dead?" He asks.

"The oxygen tank was still delivering some oxygen to you, barely enough for you to survive, but enough. We used duct tape to attempt to seal the hole as much as possible."

"Oh. My head… hurts…" he trails off, wincing and squeezing his eyes shut again. "Ahh, it's hurts… so much."

"It's oxygen deprivation, the first thing to be effected is your brain, hence the horrible headache."

"Oh. Do you… do you think… the fluid… in… my lungs… was helping… to cause… the… headaches?"

"Yes, it was-is-preventing you from getting as much oxygen as possible."

"I'm going… back… to the… hospital… aren't… I?" he asks sullenly. I nod, a little sad myself. Today was going so great. Sandor shuts his eyes again, wincing and I notice he's fighting back tears.

"Sandor? Are you okay? If you're scared, the ambulance is coming, it'll be here really soon," I say, trying to reassure him. He attempts to shake his head, but only ends up crying out, a few tears slipping out of the corners of his eyes.

"No… It just… hurts…" He sniffs, slurring slightly. I push his hair back from his forehead, looking up at the approaching ambulance. By now, Sandor's almost unconscious again, his breathing sounds even more burdensome than before. He's exhausted, and the lack of oxygen is putting a strain on him. I shove down the fear threatening to return; he's going to be okay, he's going to be okay for now. As the paramedics prepare the ambulance for him, I can feel him stir.

"Shhh," I hush, squeezing his hand. To try to help him fall asleep, I sing softly to him. When one of the paramedics comes over, one of my old partners, he smiles and together we pick Sandor up. I never stop singing.

…

"You know," Jeffery says, taking Sandor's vitals. "You're a really good singer."

"Jeff, we're not getting into this now. You can bug me later."

"Whatever." Jeffery sits back with a sly smile on his face. "I kinda miss that. I miss you. You were my favorite partner. Even if you were boring as hell, and a little more than a bit scary on the job, while not saving lives, you were pretty fun to hang around."

"Hey!" Jeffery's new partner, Chrissie, exclaims from next to some of the machines-the same machines I used to know from the inside out. "What does that make me?"

"My second favorite!" Jeffery jokes, winking at me.

"Just, make sure he's okay!" I blurt, squeezing his hand for what seems like the twentieth time since we've gotten on here. Hannu's been sitting quietly, listening to us, not saying anything. I know Jeffery's naturally a lighthearted, playful guy, but he has a very hard time staying serious during a job. His easygoing attitude usually helps calm down most patients, but sometimes, patients worry about his reliability. Even though he's really good at what he does, he doesn't seem professional at all.

Unlike me. When I used to be a paramedic, I would lock away all emotion, like I did before, and become absolutely stoic and emotionless. I freaked out patients sometimes. Jeffery's the one who came up with the "Paramedic mode."

Out of nowhere, Hannu speaks up. "Wait, you used to be a paramedic?"

I sigh. "Yeah."

"She was pretty damn good at it, too. I'm new, only been here for about a month or two, and I've already heard of you a bunch without meeting you at all," Chrissie says.

"But she quit because the stress of the job was slowly destroying her. Boss actually fired her because she refused to quit," Jeffery continues. I tighten my grip on the side of Sandor's bed. We're in an ambulance, for Pete's sake! It's not story time!

"Why?"

"She put up with everything because she wanted to help people. But, she forgot to take care of herself too." Jeffery checks Sandor again.

"Is he okay?" I ask anxiously.

"I think you could figure that out for yourself." I sigh; this is going to be a long ride. Usually, I take Jeffery's teasing with a smile, but right now, I can't stand him.

**Maren-**

Stanley sits, running his hands through his hair.

"Arrrgggghhh! I can't take this waiting!" He yells, furiously, kicking the ground. I take his hands in mine, leaning my head against his shoulder.

"It's okay," I reassure. "He'll be okay." Stanley clenches his jaw, looking away, but I catch glistening tears being held back.

"How do you know?" Stanley grumbles. His shoulders are slumped. I don't really have an answer. I'm not actually sure myself.

"I'm not sure," I admit. "But, do you want to visit Marina?"

"Anything is better than this goddamn room." I stand up and he does too, the two of us walking down to my best friend's room.

When we get there, Marina sits up, her soft features tight with worry.

"What happened?" she asks.

"At the pier, some ass ran into Sandor and his oxygen tank broke," I explain bluntly. Marina gasps.

"Is he okay?"

"We're not sure." Marina looks down.

"I hope he is," she whispers. I look over to Stanley, who's been quiet this entire time. He just stands there, looking at his feet.

To lighten the mood, I change the subject. "So, when will you be able to get up and move around?"

"Soon, the doctors say. They're making preparations to get me a wheelchair. They've checked my leg every day to see if I'm ready.

"That's great!" I exclaim.

"I know! Finally! I'm so sick of just lying here! I need some fresh air!" Marina exclaims, seeming grateful for the change in subject. We continue to talk, and somehow start discussing math. After Marina teases me a lot, my mom comes to the door telling us it's getting late and Stanley and I have school tomorrow, so we have to leave. She says hello to Marina and the three of us walk out to the car.

As my mom gets into the front seat, Stanley catches my arm.

"Can I, uh, stay with you tonight?" he asks. "I really don't want to go home and explain everything to my cousins right now."

"Sure! We could just stop over there for your things," I reply.

"Will your mom be okay with it?"

"Of course!" So, later that night, or well, technically morning, Stanley and I curl up in my bed, my head resting on his chest, his strong arms wrapped around me. We lay there for a while before falling asleep.

* * *

**Hmmm? It's a bit of a cliffhanger since you don't know how Sandor's doing.**

**I hoped you enjoyed it, and next I'll either have another chapter for this story (most likely, I'm on a roll), for A New Hope or a new story (I got some ideas I'm excited to write).**


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